Papal residence swabbed for virus

VATICAN CITY: The Vatican said on Saturday that tests carried out in the building where Pope Francis lives after one resident tested positive for coronavirus showed that the pontiff and his closest aides do not have the disease.

It was the first pronouncement about the 83-year-old pope and his coronavirus status since the current crisis began in Italy, where more than 10,000 people have died.

Tests were done on 170 people in the Vatican and six showed positive, including one of the several dozen permanent residents of the Santa Marta guesthouses, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

“I can confirm that neither the Holy Father nor his closest aides are among these,” he said. The person who tested positive works in the Secretariat of State and is in a Rome hospital.